I'm a basketball fan who uses numbers the way I use any other form of information: to enhance my understanding, in this case of Dr. Naismith's brilliant little gym game. But those chubby nerds in Houston, with their "secret formulas" and their charting of how many times Tracy McGrady scratches his nuts, sound like a bunch of rotisserie nerds who are just trying to get revenge on all the jocks who pushed them into lockers or gave them swirlies. If Morey ever hooped in his life I'd be stunned. I'm not in league with that kind of shit, and I hope it isn't taking over the game.

Again, let me be clear, there's nothing incompatible between loving Bucks basketball and crunching numbers... as long as the numbers don't overtake the game itself. Hell, I might even have a couple of statistics centered posts ready to go. And I still think the Bucks management needs to get going and join the information revolution.

But at its heart basketball is for those who ball. The sounds of the keyboard and the tapping of the calculator pad should never drown out what's real: the percussive symphony of leather hitting hardwood and the sweet melody made by the ripping of the cords. That's hoopin.